Introducing an illustration in progress: "Todd the Sea-Dog"

It has been a while since my last post, but this time I would like to introduce an illustration I have been working on following a recent request.

The person who requested this illustration is Nami Asamu, who is active on note as a POP creator and story writer.

Nami Asamu is a creator who writes various stories, and this time, I was commissioned to create illustrations of two characters from their currently serialized work, "Todd's Pendant": "Todd the Sea-Dog" and "Lulu the Sea-Cat".

They are dogs and cats, yet they have tail fins and live in the sea...


Upon receiving the request, I was first very drawn to this mysterious worldview.
So, I read the story, and I thought it was truly wonderful.

However, to be honest, it was quite difficult to visualize at the beginning.

・Todd the Sea-Dog is a dog, but at the bottom of the sea...
・And, the father is a Golden Retriever, the mother is a Chihuahua
　→When I looked it up, it seems like a very difficult mix because of the huge size difference...
・Lulu the Sea-Cat is in the shallow sea...

With various images unclear like that, I first picked up my pen and drew Todd on impulse, which is this.

But, when I thought about it carefully, the question arose:
"Is it okay for him to be this fluffy...?"
.

Aquatic mammals usually have fur that sways underwater, and even if they are on land, if they are wet, the fur would be much flatter, wouldn't it...

So, when I consulted with Nami Asamu, we reached the conclusion that such a look would indeed fit the image of an aquatic animal better. After trial and error, the image I came up with on my own was

if I let the Chihuahua's fluffy fur drift underwater, make the background the seabed to convey that, and express bubbles and such realistically, it might get the point across...

That was it.

So, here is the rough sketch I drew.

When I showed this to Nami Asamu, they were very happy with it, so I decided to proceed with coloring in this direction.

I was honestly worried that it would take time to color because I drew the coral and seaweed on the seabed too intricately, but I decided to go ahead with it.

And today, here is what I finally completed.

The fur drifting underwater, and the worldview of the seabed.
I put my heart into wanting to convey that as much as possible.

I tried to draw the fur so that the movement of each strand could be conveyed as much as possible.

While redrawing the facial expression and such many times, I felt it might be better to tilt the head a little, so I decided to tilt it slightly.

The seabed background also took quite a long time, but I drew it all by hand, taking time for each part while referring to various photos of coral reefs and the like.
Rather than "referring to," it might be closer to say that I drew in the elements of the "seabed" image in my head one by one.

So, somehow it's finished!

Next, I will do my best to draw the other one, Lulu the Sea-Cat!
At this point, the rough sketch is done like this.

Since Lulu lives in the shallows, I would like to draw her as if she is just slightly in the sea.

I wonder if I can draw the sea well...?

So, that's all for today's introduction.
Once Lulu is finished, I hope to introduce her in another article.

Thank you very much for reading until the end.